NZ and Oz Photos

I visited this page to reminisce of my time in the Oceanic, only to discover that somebody had hacked into my account and replaced the photos link with a slideshow of rather tasteless images.  Since I imagine leaving that aspect of the blog up will only enable repeat offenses, I have disabled the slide show.  Some of the photos from my trip may be found here. 

The Wire

So I'm getting down to the wire here. I've less than 48 hours left in Australia, and I've obviously been keeping quite busy as I've been away from the computer. The last couple weeks have consisted of the tropics: Cairns, Whitsundays, and Fraser Island.

I flew into Cairns on March 19, departing Melbourne around 6 am. Exhausted, I collapsed on my hostel bed and caught up on sleep for about two hours before heading out to explore the city. Cairns really doesn't have much to offer other than a major Casino. However, what makes this such a touristy town is that it is a central location to departures for the Great Barrier Reef, Mission Beach for skydiving (really, that's all Mission Beach is known for), Daintree River to check out Crocs and see the transistion of mangroves to rainforest, Cape Tribulation for a nice rainforest experience (but stay out of the ocean if you wanna steer clear of Estuarine Crocs), and the Tully River for some good rafting. I wandered the streets of Cairns for a few hours on the 19th, in and out of tourist shops that were exact clones of each other, save the occasional fifty cent difference in price, and suddenly encountered a flood of protesters of some sort all dressed in yellow, all of them marching down the main drag. Not so much out of curiosity, but simply because I was turning the corner, I discovered they were protesting the importation of bananas from the Phillipines. Good on 'em for wanting to keep jobs of Aussies, but at the same time I couldn't help but notice that many of these protesters were definitely not Aussie born, and were probably much like the many Canadians I've met along the way who worked packaging bananas and other fruits. Perhaps I'm just a bitter American who couldn't get a working visa. At the same time, I notice Australia facing a lot of what America has already encountered, and hope that they choose to be a little more self-loyal rather than trying to save a buck and not getting the quality that you could if you just kept it domestic.

I rose early the next morning for my trip to GBR, and headed down to the fleet only to discover after about a thirty minute wait that my boat was not going out today. I asked if other boats were, and the reply was "yes" as I was pointed in the direction of a walk-on family owned boat, the Reef Experience. After a big brekkie on the boat and a handful of motion sickness tablets, we were off. The water was quite choppy, but I'm not gonna give up my trip for a bit of chop. After an entertaining orientation, I jumped in for the first of two snorkel session. Sans a buddy, I became a bit more adventurous and ventured away from the boat a bit more than I should, particularly as I was chasing a little white tip reef shark around in an attempt to capture its image....we shall have to wait and see. After getting my hand slapped for wandering too far, I went ahead and decided to SCUBA for the first time, unsure what my eustracian tubes would think of this decision. I quickly discovered that I was a nose breather as my mask leaked everytime I exhaled. Going into deeper waters with Justin the Dive Instructor and three other Aussies, we came across a variety of sea life, including some enourmous clams that Justin was trying to get me to help him pry open, and we also found Nemo! When the day was done, I had made some Aussie friends from NSW, three older guys from a variety of professions. Meeting up later on that night for a real seafood experience at a more-than-backpacker-price-range restaurant, they were kind enough to treat me to a meal....Brian will be pleased to know that I indulged in some fresh prawns (in other words, I haven't been eating Kosher (-;). Returning to my room, I encountered Yvonne, a spunky, good natured Brit with a slight Brummy accent. We were bedmates for the next couple of nights before she was off to Hong Kong. The following three days consisted of one day rafting the Tully River in mainly grade 4 and one 5 rapids, during which I really felt the resulting sunburn on my back and bum from snorkelling the day prior, doing walks through the Daintree forest and Cape Tribulation. While in Cape Trib, I notice a small scratch on my foot developing a bit of a red line along the vein. Aware of what this was, I went to the pharmicist only to discover he was on vacation and the doctor was an hour drive away. Hmmm. Resorting to the second best option, I went to the grocer, got some garlic to slap on the wound, and watched the line lessen during the following days until I came to a doctor in Townsville. See, Mom and Dad, there was a good reason I got blood poisoning ten years ago; otherwise I probably wouldn't have thought anything of it and ended up with gangrene and perhaps be less one foot by this point. Getting back on track, Cape Trib was a wonderful place, and with the rainforest right on the beach, it truly felt like a scene right out of LOST. I encountered some interesting critters along some walks, including some non-indiginous wild boars and some stoned Canadians (who, by the way, were useless when they offered to drive me to where I needed to go and I ended up a good 3K from where I wanted to be; this is why you don't smoke).

Upon my return to Cairns, I took the 12:30am bus to Townsville (where I pretty much did nothing but eat ice cream, which ultimately got me sick, and went to the doctors) where I stayed for a day rather than going to Magnetic Island as planned. The next morning I was off to Airlie Beach for my sailing adventure. We (a group of about twenty of us) departed on the Habibi the next morning, and this is when I began to learn that it's not always good to book things in advance. The sailing was fantastic, but the place was covered in bedbugs. It was during this trip that I began to grow weary of my flashpacker backpacker journey. I slept (for an hour) up above before the critters were discovered due to being sick from the smell of the engine room, but the next night, the others on board were so rude in trying to sleep where I specifically asked if I could sleep in an attempt to escape the bugs....I guess I was a bit spoiled early on in the trip being able to travel along and choose with whom to meet along the way. But it wasn't all that bad. We got a bit of snorkelling in, and enjoyed the beautiful sands of world-famous Whitehaven Beach. Of course, though, the first thing I did upon returning the the Marina was take a shower at the public showers, and wash everything I had taken on that boat. It was here in the Marina that I met Dale, an Aussie who was recently in Ft. Lauderdale to pick up his new yacht. It's meeting locals like him that makes me want to return to Australia and experience the country less like a tourist, and more like an Aussie as I've been given some great tips on the right boats to take, nice beaches to visit that aren't on the traveller's map, and where to stay.

From Airlie, I took the coach on down to Hervey Bay where I met the group with whom I'd spend three days on Fraser Island. After a bit of grocery shopping (my budgeting skills from shopping for work came in quite handy as we all got money back from what we contributed) and headed out to the Island on the ferry the next morning. Again, I was somewhat miffed about the whole backpacker package thing as I was told the car was automatic (lies, lies!), but I sucked it up and learned to drive (fine, I'd tried once before, but that was about six years ago)--get this--four-wheel drive manual on the sand using my left hand to shift. I'll be soooo confused if I try to drive a manual back home! Granted the German guys weren't keen on my driving, but I wasn't the one doing 100k/h on the beach in a 70 zone. :-P We stayed at a camp owned by Aboriginals, and originally, Nick, the guy who ran the place, wasn't too keen on us. However, he quickly took a liking to our group when he asked what my ethnic make-up was and it came out that I was very very little Cherokee....apparently, since it's believed that Aboriginals are the oldest race, they believe that natives to a land are a closer sub-race to them. After a bit, while the others were consumed by drinking games, he took me to his little house and showed me some spectacular Aboriginal dot art he'd been doing. The next morning, some of us rose quite early to watch the sun rise while others slept in, suffering quitely from their hangovers. Driving along the beach is quite tricky, and on multiple occasions, the paltry itinerary we were given nearly got us washed out to sea. But we had a phenomenal time, nonetheless. Lake Mackenzie, a pristine freshwater lake from which you can drink, was by far the highlight of Fraser. The island being a 126 km stretch of sand (and it also houses a rainforest), the lake had the appearance of the water you would find in the Bahamas, clear and green on the edges, and dropping off into a deep blue as the depth increased. Before departing, Nick said he had something for me to take back. One item was a piece of dot art he'd painted for me on a section of redwood, and the other....let's just say I'm keeping my fingers crossed and saying a prayer when I walk through customs. On the bright side, it shouldn't be cursed as I didn't take it, but rather was given it.

I got into Byron Bay yesterday, where I met up with Hannah, the self proclaimed New Age hippy I'd met on the surf trip in NZ. She took me to an art gallery out in the country before we headed to her boyfriend's to stay the night where, after a fantastic authentic Indian curry meal (he grew up in a monk monastary in Tibet, which let me tell you, made for quite the interesting stay), the two pulled out some canvas and paint to get to work on their current projects. Hannah said she needed to use me as a model, and I told her that I was willing so long as I could keep my clothes on as I knew she was very much into nudes....thankfully she just needed a face. I'm also thankful she's into abstracts as the thing looks nothing like me. I was ultimately coerced into painting after Jahna handed me a feather paintbrush he'd made....peer pressure. They were also very much into poetry, and after I commented that his poem was good and I liked it (I'd only read page one of six), I turned the page and discovered that I may have been a bit more comfortable on the set of The Girls Next Door than sitting there reading that poem and I quickly skipped to the last page to save myself from anymore suffering. After a lovely homemade brekky of free range eggs, avocados, pesto on toast, and homemade almond milk, and before Hannah and I departed for a bit of a surf in Byron this morning, he handed me a small sachet with a crystal shaped by Tibetin monks inside of it. A nice gesture, I'm still not sure I'll keep it as I'm a little weirded out by its presence. If my brother met this couple, he'd never even joke that I was a "hippy"again. So Hannah and I were off for a quick surf before she had to work, and I am pleased to say that in that big pool of mush, I somehow managed to stand for the first time on a board much shorter (6'8") than I'm accustomed to (8'4"). Sqeee! While I was going to do a bit of a walk until Hannah returned with my bags this afternoon, I decided to catch up on here instead. It's a sad thing, departing in only two days; the time has surely flown. Before I go, though, I am scheduled to arrive for my last full day in Sydney at 6am on Sunday, go on a day trip to the Blue Mountains to see the Three Sisters at 7am, and will likely spend my evening packing and doing wash like all the good little backpackers do before leaving. And I'll hope that I get to my plane just fine without having to remove that little keepsake from around my neck that hangs from a piece of wire.

Falling In Love

So while I was sitting in the doctor's office in Townsville, Qld, the doctor waiting to see if I had a bad reaction to this antibiotic prescribed for my little case of blood poisoning, induced by a very small puncture wound from a rock in the river, I figured it was time for me to catch you up on things as I have been ever so negligent in keeping this thing up-to-date.

I know the title of this post surely caught your eye, but you'll just have to read everything in order to find out what I mean.

I left you off telling you that I had just left Melbourne. Since Wilson's Prom was closed due to the fires, Stinger took us to Philip Island on our way to the Melbourne transition. As I already shared, I was only here for twelve hours. The Melbourne to Adelaide portion of the trip continued with Tilly, and primarily a new group of people save Xavier from France and the four Danish girls (dubbed The Great Danes by Stinger, a name which followed them up until my departure, but I'm sure all the way up to Darwin). On the first day of the tour, Tilly took us to get up close with a few lazing koalas, and also went on an amazing tree top walk through the rain forest canopies of Otway National Park. After dinner in Princetown (where you never lock your doors as there are only 11 locals--one of the guys in the male cabins locked the doors and there were no keys to open it), our home for the night, we all piled back into the bus to check out the Twelve Apostles (seven of which remain in tact) just in time for rain to start falling from the sky, creating a magnificent misting effect in front of the structures. Coming back here again the next morning (3/6/09) for a view in the daylight, we also stopped to see the Bay of Martyrs, Bay of Islands, and London Bridge. London Bridge now only has one arch as the first one has fallen (how ironic that London Bridge fell down), and there is quite an interesting storing behind it. The arch that bridged the mainland to the second arch of the structure crumbled and fell away, dividing the structure and the mainland from each other, and stranding two individuals on the now island rock. Immediately, news crews were on the scene in helicopters, taking pictures of the rock and the two stranded individuals. What made this situation particularly funny was that the two people standing on London Bridge had called in sick to work that day, and now their false absence was being flashed across the television. To further the situation, the couple happened to be married--to other people. And that is the story behind London Bridge falling. We then went on to the Grampians after a lot of driving, and did a very steep walk up to a spectacular lookout point to total approximately 1.5 hours of walking round-trip.

Most of us didn't feel the Grampians walk until the next morning when we awoke for a sunrise walk to the top of the Pinnacle during which a startled wallaby hopped past myself and a couple of others, only to land on a wet rock where it slid a bit before struggling to his over-sized feet and hopping off into the bush. We also stumbled upon some other Aussie wildlife: two completely intoxicated Aussies who had both fallen out with their wives the night prior, and thought it a good idea to get drunk and do a trek up the mountain to the Pinnacle. I am pretty sure we woke them as they were sleeping in a cavern-like area, one of them sporting a flashy tiara. From here, we continued our morning by stopping by Hollow Mountain, and taking a walk down to MacKenzie Falls as we all finally began to mentally wake up by this point. We continued on our way to Adelaide, stopping for an hour in Horsham (Victoria's--perhaps Australia's--cleanest town where a by-passer even stopped to pick up an item that had fallen off of a hanger on the sidewalk, and then continued on with her errands). Horsham also boasts home to the bakery that makes the best Vanilla Slice in all of Australia. Now I had never had this dessert that has a custard middle sandwiched between puff pastry and topped with some vanilla icing, but I had to give it a shot. I stood in line at the bakery, and was ever so pleased with this delicious Australian dessert, so much so that I stopped at another bakery and tried theirs. After only two slices of Vanilla Slice, I felt this a sufficient qualification for me to be able to say that the first bakery deserved its hard-earned title as the second bakery's custard middle was much to hard and lacked a creaminess factor, as well as being a little too eggy in flavor. Needless to say, I wasn't very hungry for the remainder of the day.

We arrived in Adelaide that afternoon, gaining an extra half-hour (seriously, either don't change the time, or give us a whole hour, but half?). Fortunately, this wasn't enough to fully confuse my body. Adelaide, where I stayed for two days before continuing on with the Adelaide to Alice Springs portion of the trip, was a great city. It had a spectacular weekend market where I bought a sun-dress that I call my waltzing Matilda dress, handmade and only $15. This weekend there were also tons of activities going on from a family fair to a music festival that I would have loved to have attended had it not been so expensive. Instead, however, Emily (a Brit), Maireke (from Germany), and myself along with another girl headed to Glenalg beach which was a 40 minute tram ride from the city to the coast. Unfortunately, there was no time to watch the sunset as we were leaving at 6 am the next day and, it being a National holiday (of which Australia has an endless number), the reception desk would be closed and we felt entitled to get our $20 deposits back, what with Cannon Street Backpackers (yes, this is a warning) being such a dodgy place. I just have to provide a quick sidenote of this place, which came in a close second to the Oceanic in Auckland: there were toenail clippings on the floor of our dorm, we were given only a topsheet and expected to sleep on a stained mattress (fortunately, I managed to swindle another sheet when I went to get a pillow, of which they had no supply when I first arrived), and the bathrooms always needed cleaning because people would sneak in other people who slept in their vehicles in the alley way during the night to use them. Now there was an upside to this place, which I found very odd: free apple pie every night, and a make-it-yourself pancake, toast, and fresh fruit brekkie the next morning. I suppose this compensated, although they probably could have used these funds on, oh, I don't know, sheets, pillow cases, and employees...

Come Monday morning, we had to be up around 5:30 to catch the next bus for our trip. That's the thing I've discovered about organized tours--you get up very very early. 6:00 am wasn't so bad, I was able to do 5:30, but when we got to this next portion, we were getting up between 4:15 and 5:30 every day. Our first day with Lawless, the new driver, we checked out some Aboriginal rock art at Yourambulla Caves and then did a longer walk in the afternoon, topped off with a BBQ dinner where I abandoned my food rules and tried for the first time some camel sausages (eh.), kangaroo (yum!), and emu burgers (they raise emu in Florida, right?!). I caught a lot of flack for the remainder of the trip for eating meat when I had specified vegetarian and fish, but how often do you get the chance to try kangaroo?

By 3/12/09, day 10 of the trip, we had made it to Coober Pedy, an opal mining town, where we went noodling (you search for remnants of opals that the miners dump since you must have a license to mine here). I think I got some pretty promising little tidbits that I'd love to have polished and made into something, opal being my birth stone and all. After this activity, we all went on our own way for a bit of free time. I was inside of a cafe, away from the entrance, when I noticed some howling winds and I assumed that the black cloud hanging outside had finally broken loose, but when I went to investigate I discovered that it was an enormous dust storm, then followed by a torrential downpour, then followed by a hale storm, and topped of with a beautiful rainbow, all in a ten minute period. The bush has some pretty incredible weather tendencies, but a local said that was the first time in over twenty years that he had seen hale in that town. I guess that compensated for not getting to see the summer snowfall in Jindabyne on day two of the tour (but let's admit, snow in summer would have been so much more fun!). We spent most of the next day on the road to Uluru, also known as Ayer's Rock, in Yulara.

Something that few people tend to realize about the outback is all the flies. I invested in a two dollar fly net which fully served its purpose as days nine through thirteen we were constantly fighting off the flies. Nothing that bit, just plain old annoying picnic flies that surrounded you as the temperature was so hot that it produced what felt like waves--like we were in a convection oven. You could literally feel the heat sucking the moisture from your skin when stepping off of the bus the last two days. Anyhow, after walking around Uluru (and fighting off the flies), we refueled our bodies with some biscuits and fruit cake (America needs to learn to have fruit cake like that during the holidays and people would actually eat it), and then had some cheap Aussie bubbly (didn't matter that it was cheap as it was gonna go to our heads after that walk anyway) as we watched the sun set against Uluru, and while I jumped back and forth from taking pictures of the rock to the sunset.

The next morning we were up bright and early to watch the sun rise before heading over to Kata Tjuta (The Olgas) for a 1.5 hour walk, finishing just in time to have a spare few minutes to take a dip in the pool at the bottom of camp before we had to be on the road again. By 3/14, day 13, we had made it to Alice Springs, but not before visiting Kings Canyon where we hiked through the Lost City and the Garden of Eden early for a 3-4 hour walk, finishing just as it began to get extremely hot. This final night, we all got together and had somewhat of a farewell dinner and some drinks (and maybe some of us drank the 3.5 Liters of goon, or cheap wine, that we hadn't drank the duration of the last seven days. I never again want to see another box of wine in my life.).

Apparently I had gotten a little out of it the night before, and in my attempt to set my alarm, I somehow re-set my watch, waking up for my bus to the airport at 5:50 rather than 7:30. My body was very ungrateful for this cruel disservice, and it made my plane ride to Perth somewhat of a brutal journey. But it was here in Perth that I fell in love, with none other than the city itself. As you may know, I deliberated for quite some time before deciding to go to Perth and I am ever so happy that I went. I only spent three days here, but in those three days I trekked the city by foot, visited the Swan Bells which are just across the street from the WA Supreme Court and chime regularly throughout the day, took the ferry across Swan River (just across the street from the Courts) to the zoo, and managed to investigate the rest of the city from the government buildings to the malls. I also went to Scarborough Beach to watch the first day of the Life Saving Competition (it was Masters and a Nippers Exposition), where I happened upon a fellow who was--hold on now--the husband to the friend of the husband from whose wife I bought my paddleboard and met through my Jr. Lifeguard coach. She also placed first in a couple of her events, despite how nervous she was. Good on her! I was very impressed to see women (and men) well into their sixties, and even seventies, still active and competing in surf life saving here.

I was sad to leave Perth (especially on a red eye) at midnight that evening, but I wanted to try and see what I could of Melbourne in one day. So after a flight of a little over two hours, we arrived in Melbourne at 5:35 am where I caught the bus to the Southern Cross Station, and watched the city wake up as I waited for my 6:30 tram to St. Kilda, a suburb of Melbourne where I had previously stayed. I arrived at the hostel at 7:10 after chatting it up with Francis, a fellow who belongs to an MLM business that was recently on Donald Trump's Celebrity Apprentice. He also tried to recruit me, but I've had my share of MLMs. ;-) Arriving at the hostel, I had a cup of tea with milk (strange habit I've acquired here, primarily from the influence of UK tourists and not so much Kiwis and Aussies) with a couple of biscuits while planning my day. I walked a few minutes to St. Kilda Beach, which reminded me a bit of Pompano (good for memories, but that's not the greatest compliment as far as water and sand quality are concerned), and eventually found myself out on the pier where fishermen seemed to be catching more starfish than anything else. From here, I headed over to the Botanical Gardens (something I love about NZ and Oz is that there are Botanical Gardens in nearly every decent sized city) where I meandered about for shy of an hour before heading back to the hostel to toss my belongings in my room.

Once acquainted with my roommates for the night (many had been there a couple weeks to a few months, and I wished I could have stayed much longer as it was like one big family), and then caught the tram back into Melbourne for a bit of wandering. Here, I stopped at a little conservative bookstore that was hidden on the third floor of an old office building and nosed around for a bit, stumbling upon books from American and Australian politics to medicine, health, and economics. I found a little booklet that I'm sure my dad will thoroughly enjoy. Next I was off by foot to walk by the Victoria Parliament before stopping in the park for a bite of lunch --a cup of yogurt and a bag of salt and vinegar crisps made with real MSG, and let's not forget the kiwi fruit. (It was this moment that I put two and two together and realized that it's called the kiwi fruit because much like a kiwi, it's round and fuzzy. And flightless. Yes, I'm a little slow about these obvious things.) After laying on my back and relaxing for a few minutes on the cool lawn, I got back on my feet and took a looksie at the Royal Exhibition Building, which has quite the history. I have neither the time nor the money to share that with you at the moment. Anyhow, I discovered that since I was carrying my student ID (woohoo for blurry pictures!), I got a decreased rate to go on a tour of the Building, and also got free admission into the Melbourne Museum, which, while it wasn't initially in my plans, I went ahead and took since it was (what's the magic word that backpackers love?) free.

I walked all the way back to Southern Cross rather than taking the free tram as it was a good way for me to take in all the sights along the way, and then hopped on it to return to St. Kilda just in time for a stop at the grocery store before heading off to the beach once again to watch the sun set. It was a fantastic view, and I reminisced a little as a life saver who reminded me a bit of Rob Finch was in the water with some life savers in training, learning them up on rescue techniques. Before departing, I meandered a bit more through St. Kilda to check out the little shops (nothing special from that in all the other cities), and then retired to bed early as I had to be up for my flight to Cairns by 4:30 am.

So far, I have to say that I love Perth and Melbourne the most, and would love to stay long term in either one of them. I must have somewhat decent taste as all the Aussies I've spoken to after this have said that Perth and Melbourne are probably the best cities Oz has to offer.

That's all for now, folks. I'm off to the Whitsundays and will fill you in on Cairns later. Tata.

Lunchtime Quickie

Just a quick blurb to update you on what I'm doing and where I am. I started my tour on Monday, bright and early at 7am. Staying five doors down from the hostel was a brilliant idea and I'm glad I did it. I quickly earned a new nickname, Cracky, from my tour guide for the first three days, as I commented on the Red Bull he was having for breakfast as being crack water....from there on out I became Cracky. He was without a doubt the most hilarious tour guide, not to mention it was the first time that I got to listen to an Aussie accent for an extended period. *Closes eyes and grins* We discovered that I was a couch potato during his driving game with the same name, and I won a bottle of wine for dinner, which quickly led to five butterscotch schnapps shots, a few beers, and we'll just leave the rest as being history. Unfortunately Wilsons Prom burnt down, so he had to create some alternative activities for us. We did a bit of wine tasting, went to the beach for a bit, and I then embraced some girlie drinks followed by a bottle of So Co (yes, Wes, it has been quite some time since I had So Co, but I polished it off quite nicely). We had to wake at 6am the next day and we were on our way for the final day with Stinger (his nickname). He took us to see a seal colony and to a marine education site, which was indeed quite educatioal since the original plan was foiled due to the existing conditions. We were only a small group of ten (we started out 12, but they dipped after Parliament House in Canberra). Canberra is not a very entertaining city, despite it being Australia's capitol, but I still enjoyed hearing about the history and politics. On a side note, it was an American who actually won a contest in his design plan for the city, and it has a very American feel to it compared to the rest of the country. The weather was not kind to us on this portion of the trip (the first three days), but it was still a quite an entertaining time.

I began the Melbourne (pronounced Melbin) to Adelaide leg of my tour yesterday, and really wish I'd been to stay in Melbourne for a few extra days. It is quite a nice place, and actually seemed more inviting in things to do than Sydney. *sigh* I'll just have to come back to this part of the world! We just completed the Great Ocean Road leg of this portion of my tour, and it was absolutely spectacular! Despite it being cloudy and rainy (we are at the end of summer and start of autumn now), they were absolutely fantastic sights to say the least. I have my ticket lined up for Perth, but might leave a bit early to meet up with a guy I met on my surf tour, Xavier (a Maori who lives Port Douglas and has a security company which has served major actors and stars to presidents). This means only three days in Perth and a day early for my Cairns tour, so we shall see if it works out. Anyhow, that is what I will be doing, not what I am doing. I have to say that I'm glad I kept a few warm things as it's kind of cold here. Last night we saw the Twelve Apostles (absolutely phenomenal, even in the rain--I think it made it better, actually) it it was quite windy and cold. Well, that's just a quick schpeal on what I've been doing. I must go now as I've only a few minutes before we depart for the Grampians.

Out and About

I've got my jones on to jump on a board and hit the water after having gotten into the habit of doing it everyday. I already told you about my beginnings where I was stripped of all my bad habits acquired by using a paddleboard and never learning to really surf. Last Tuesday started off with a morning session and me spending some extra time on my own in the surf in the afternoon. We then ventured off to the east coast that afternoon--the Pacific side--and drove along the beach highway (the beach is considered an actual road, from what I understand) on the way to our destination. After getting there, I was quite glad that I had gone out an extra hour and a half that morning/afternoon. There were beautiful, clean breaks as far as the eye could see up the coastline. I'm not very good with the whole wave height thing--never have been--but any South Floridian would have been in heaven with these barrel-worthy waves. I surfed pretty much non-stop (about 2.5 or 3 hours) until my sad little arms turned to jelly. Wednesday's adventure had us both in and out of the water. Kane said that this was probably the flattest he's ever seen it around, so it was a challenge for him to find us surf, plus the tides weren't in our favor. So we started the morning off with a bit of a session in the water, and then headed out for some optional surfing and sand duning in addition to a bit of site-seeing. We topped off the day with a very nice BBQ and some apple blackberry cobbler that I volunteered to make, and then on to some gaming. Thursday rolled around, and Kane was able to successfully find a good spot to surf as, once again, we drove up the coast for some surf about an hour and a half away. Upon returning, some of us took a tour of the point where they usually have surf (it was a virtual lake now) and collected some mussels to go with the pippies (sp?) the others collected the night before. Can I tell you that this guy made some incredible mussels? Yep, that's right boys and girls, I've been not-so-Kosher.

It was a sad thing to have to leave, but on Friday Kane dropped us off in Auckland, where some went their own ways, but I remained in the company of two Americans (Steve and Adam) and an Aussie (Hannah) for the evening. We went out to a performance tha twas part of the Fringe Festival and was a comedic skit of rapping/speak song that really showed off the quirky humor of the Kiwi: Lightbulb Man. It was a great departure from what I saw when I arrived in Sydney on Saturday at the Sydney Opera House. I decided that I could handle a 35 minute walk in heels, and I could, but I suffered a bit. I have resolved that if you cannot walk over three K in a pair of shoes, they are not worth having. So I arrived just in time at 7:48 (this is why you always set your watch aheah, so you'll have extra time) to pick up my tickets for a Midsummer Night's Dream that was merged with the music of Mendelssohn. Unfortunately I had had nothing to eat since my 1pm meal on the flight (really much earlier in the day since there was a time change along the way), but a nice couple from the UK bough me a glass of merlot. This combined with the creeping jet lag resulted in some serious head nodding the second portion of the show, and I was quite apologetic to those sitting next to me for the last ten minutes through which I struggled.

I ventured out again for some more site seeing on Sunday after grabbing some McDonald's hotcakes (I've been craving them since Christchurch and it's been well over a decade since I last had them!) and came to the Queen Victoria Building. Any shopaholic would be in heaven in this place, and even though the shops weren't open yet at 9am on Sunday, it was still filled with people to eat and check out this stores and the building itself. I had to go home for a nap (sleepy mode was influenced by church), and then was off again to head back down to the harbor since my camera died the night prior. Starved, I resorted to a Krispy Kreme at about 4pm, and then stumbled upon a homemade ice cream parlor about 10 blocks down the way which I couldn't resist. This is what happens when you start the day with carbohydrate dense foods like pancakes.

So I hate to leave off here, but I must be on my way to catch my Sydney to Alice Springs tour in ten minutes. That's all for now!

Swell

It is Saturday morning and I am currently standing here in the Auckland airport to depart for Sydney. I am leaching off of the free internet here, so I will try to make it quick. Below is a post I started, but never finished, so I'll complete and post it here.

(2/24-27/09) After a trip to the Post Shop to ship some things home yesterday morning, I headed back to the hostel from hell to check out (after waiting in the lobby for 15 minutes for them to unchain the front entry) and went straight to the harbor for the pick-up for my surf trip. There were nine others awaiting the arrival of Kane, our surf instructor and entertainer for the next five days. We all tossed our things into the trailer that was connected to a big van and headed on our way to an unknown destination. Following a drive of approximately four hours, we stopped in a little town to do some quick shopping for items we might need for the week (fine, we stopped at Liquor King, their equivalent to ABC Liquors) and got some goods for the week. After having to make soooo many decisions, we were back on winding country roads, up and down mountains, and arrived at our destination nearing four in the afternoon.

Around 6:30 PM, we squirmed into our wetsuits and headed down to the shoreline for our first lesson. I decided to stick with the neophytes as I don't think simply jumping up on a 25 lb rescue board as a ripple pushes you along really qualifies as surfing. It turned out to be a good thing as I had multiple nasty habits, primarily caused by paddling. After a quick sand session and practicing standing, Kane let us "have a play" in the white water. The bach (basically a short term beach accomodation or house) was just right. Bunk beds in the rooms, a nice sized socializing area, pool table (something I'll never be able to do well), and most importantly, beach front with a killer view of the coast.

The next day we went out early in the morning, and I soon progressed to the unbroken waves. It's pretty amazing that I lifeguarded so long and still had no real grasp of surfing. In only five days I quickly acquired skills that I had not in over five years of guarding--although it did help to have a good teacher, too. With Kane's instruction, I quickly went from learning when just the right moment to catch the wave was, to riding it in straight, to riding along the break, and finally to learn a little carving. I was really impressed that he could watch us all, and then tell us to make the most minute change and it made the world of a difference. He knew just by watching me me from shore that I was afraid of nose diving and so kept myself about an extra inch back from where I should have been in order to catch it. He claimed that this was the worst week of surf he's ever seen, but we would never have known that as he took us to some of the more favorable spots on both the east (Pacific) and west (Tasman) coasts, ensuring that we got what we came to get. It was a spectacular five days of meeting some really wonderful people with some potential contacts in Oz. I am actually somewhat sad to leave, but Oz calls.

I wish I could write more, but I am pressed for time and there's a line of pretty annoyed people waiting for a computer. Some of the pics you see on the slideshow are of us on the beach, but I am waiting for the actual action shots. I'll catch up on here again soon!

Turning Point

I set out in search of the Kauri yesterday morning, and I told Sophia EXACTLY where I wanted to go. I even double-checked to make sure she knew what I wanted. So an hour into driving, I notice I'm going the wrong direction. Evidently, if two different locations have a street with the same name, Sophia thinks she can go ahead and choose whichever she fancies. So I turned her off, and headed back north to find the trees. Unfortunately, after about another hour or so of driving through winding mountain roads at speeds between 15mph and 28mph, I had to use the restroom, which was quite obviously non-existant out in the middle of the mountains. Quite used to it, I looked for the first place on the side of the road to pull over. I found a picnic area, but there were people eating there, so I continued onward until about a mile down the road I found a spot with a lot of brush. I slipped on my flip flops and, as I was heading down a little bank, got my foot tangled in a vine that was covered in thorns which ultimately found a new home in my toes and foot. Triage time. Bathroom or bleeding foot? I chose the former and then tended to the latter which had about ten thorns in it and was bleeding far more than I'd expected it to be.



I was getting annoyed with today's plans.



I decided that this was it and if I didn't get to the forest in a bit that I would turn back and head off to Auckland early. So I drove, and drove, and then started to get very tired. Of course I needed to heed the warnings that "Fatigue Kills", right? So I decided that if finding the Kauri (a local suggested I go to Coramandel rather than the northwest) was going to be more of a chore and make my day miserable, that it pretty much wasn't worth it. Don't get me wrong, I was all about seeing the Kauri, but I scrapped my initial itinerary in the beginning of the trip for such reasons as this. I was heading upwards towards a beach when it started to pour and I decided to turn back. On the way back, however, I stumbled upon a nice little waterfall walk. They don't seem to have as many trails and walks on the side of the road here as did the South Island, most likely because it's more populated here and there are other means for rest stops. So I pulled over and wandered down the trail. I'd quickly forgotten that some of the best parts of my travels weren't necessarily the ultimate destinations, but were all the little stops along the way that cut up the journey. Once I completed my walk, I got on the road and headed for Auckland.

So everything's going just fine as I'm driving along Highway 2 when, pink, another rock hits my windshield, this one leaving a nice 12 inch crack down the middle. This was certainly not an improvement to my day. So I just let God have it, and keep going. I arrived in Auckland, and immediately decided that I don't much fancy it here. Perhaps it was because when I got off the motorway and Sophia could not navigate me around roads that had been blocked off for a cycling race (damn cyclists--isn't it interesting how the little things that we enjoy so much can easily annoy us?), and I had to locate another motor park for my last night with the car. I finally arrive at a nice little camper park in an Auckland suburb and stay here the night. I got all my plans squared away by searching online and even tracked down a hostel near the post office so that I could ship back some of the bulkier items that I won't need for Australia's warmer climate, plus it's only about a mile walk to where I need to be to start my surf tour on Monday. Otherwise I'd have to take a cab to the airport where their only FedEx drop-off is which doesn't open until 8:30am, then get back in time for my 10:00 departure. This way I can get it all taken care of and not waste too much time or money. The Oceanic Hostel. Nice, right?

So I drove here first thing to see if they had a vacancy for tonight, and they did. But, you know, there's a reason to worry a tad bit when the reception desk has a grate screen around it. It can't be that bad, I think to myself. I mainly go up to the room to use the bathroom, which wasn't that bad. Then I see the room. "Well," I think to myself, "just go out into the city for a while and you won't have to deal with it." So I walk down to the harbor to find out where my tour departs tomorrow. You know you're in a sketchy part of town when you have a place called Show Girls two blocks away. I was staying in the Auckland ghetto, no doubt about it. Convenience carries a heavy price. So I continued to the harbor, because being near the water fixes everything. I was somewhat saddened when I got down to the harbor and saw loads of crap floating in it, especially with how environmentally conscious of a country it is. But I quickly decided that I could be disgruntled by the past few days, or I could not let it spoil how great it's all been with a few exceptions. So I walked over to the i-site and I booked an afternoon of sailing on the NZL41. Before the departure, however, I went to the hostel and took in a few items that I wouldn't mind being stolen, but needed to get out of the car before I returned it.

Once out on the sailboat, the water did solve everything and make it better. I even got to get on the grinders and do a bit of steering. Quite a nice experience, and I think I was the only chick who tried her hand at grinding. Upon returning, I hurried back to the hostel, unloaded some more stuff, filled the car with gas, and was off to get the car and Sophia back to the rental place. I soon spoke to the guy at the front desk and told him about the chip and the crack. Even though I opted for the partial pay option for additional insurance coverage, it turned out that the cost for repairs was low enough that I didn't have to pay anything. Boy, you have no idea how relieved I was! I took a cab back to the harbor from the car hire, and sat outside with my newest addiction, a Chai latte, trying to avoid what I knew I'd eventually have to face. Around 5:45pm, I wobbled down the street with my backpack that has a larger girth than do I, and thought of how to better this situation. I got up to my room, and just looked at it. Disgusting. Absolutely disgusting. And I didn't even pay any less for here than I paid at other hostels! (Side note: I think I just killed a flea on me as I sit here typing this.) Anyhow, I sat (actually I stood; I have yet to actually sit on anything in there) in my room and tried to decide what to keep and what to send home. After about an hour of this, I realized that I had not actually eaten anything except for the latte and some left over red pepper and avocado since this morning. I immediately decided that in such a situation, a girl needs to go out. But first I had to make a trip to the grocery store. What did I get, you ask? Paper towels and disinfectant spray. The plus about staying in a place like this is that you'll likely not have any other roomies because everybody in town except for you knows better. So I retrun to my room, spray the bed linens, the door knobs, the carpet, and the pillow. Then, I cover the bed with paper towels and encase the pillow with the plastic bag from the market and cover it with paper towels as well. Ahhh, there we go, nice clean bed linens! And now I know I have to face something else. I have been out all day, in the heat and sun, sweating and getting dirty, and I must shower. It's not that I want to shower, but it would simply be unacceptable for me to go out like this. (As I sit here, I am reminded of another detail of this accomodation: the pipes moan and groan in angst with every flush or rinse of the hands in the sink. It sounds like a terrible tuba player.) Anyhow, I take with me my toiletries, shower flip-flops, the disinfectant spray, and the remaining paper towels because I refuse to take my towel in there and chance dropping it.

By this point, you might be thinking that I'm a spoiled, prissy girl who can't handle roughing it. Oh no, I can rough it just fine. I can be out in nature. I can deal with outdoor bugs. I even applied the five second rule to a toothbrush that fell on the bathroom floor a few nights ago at the camper park. But I wouldn't apply the five second rule to a hairbrush that fell on the floor here. If you call the need for simple hygeine and sanitary conditions being prissy, then a priss I am. Channel seven news would be all over this! Anyhow, I ventured down to the showers and found a new level of disgust. I sprayed down the shower and everything else I had to touch in there. I started out with it full blast, but quickly discovered that the pipes were starting to groan again, and that the water was pooling at my feet. Knowing that these showers likely doubled as a toilet, I turned the water to a mere trickle to let it all drain. Afterwards, upon returning to my room, I disinfected my shower shoes. Yes, it was that bad. Anyhow, my friend had suggested the Skytower, and I decided that in order to feel better, I might have to put on some nice clean clothes and go to a nice clean place, and have some nice clean fun (no stopping at Show Girls for me). So I did this, and I balanced out my day of oatmeal, avocado, pepper, and latte, with another latte and some raspberry tarts while enjoying a spectacular view of Auckland. You could see the lights of buildings and cars and business twinkling for miles around, out as far as the eye could see. And, ah, over there where the police lights are flashing, that's where my hostel is.

Well, I must be up early in the morning. Not just to be places, but to get out of places. There is plus to this place: It's not Hotel California, and I'll be able to check out in the morning. But what to do about the growing number of bug bites on me.....